Craig Markley has played the field in music.
He’s flirted with jazz. Dated the blues and rock.
The music he gave his heart to is Celtic.
He’s even sold off his Hammond B3 organ. Just didn’t fit into the Celtic sound of his band Lone Raven.
(It found a good home, though, with the Alabama Shakes.)
Not that his current band is wedded at the hip to the Celtic sound. Guitarist Neil Jacobs studied
flamenco and gypsy guitar in Europe, and brings that style to the band’s book.
Lone Raven will bring its Celtic and world music mix to the Pemberville Opera House for a concert March 7
at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. They are available at the door and in advance at Beeker’s General Store or
by calling 419-287-4848.
Markley’s first venture into Celtic music was with the band Stark Raven. When that band broke up in 2005
after a dozen years of existence, Markley was still interested in another Celtic band.
He wanted a fresh start, yet retain some connection to the earlier group, hence the name Lone Raven.
He brought in Jacobs who plays primarily 12-string guitar plus mandocello and the Eastern European string
instruments tambura and prim.
Up front are the twin fiddles and vocals of Kara Markley, the leader’s daughter, and Elizabeth
Blickenstaff. Both add a couple more colors – Lone Raven fields an arsenal of 20 instruments.
Markley plays piano, accordions, whistles, guitar and percussion and sings.
The band he explained was never really a purely Celtic outfit. And even he wondered how the flamenco and
Eastern European sounds would blend.
The big test came when the group played the Dublin Irish Festival where they shared the stage with the
hard core Irish acts.
Markley was pleased to discover the audience loved them, probably appreciating the change of pace.